


Gratitude

by GoggleLad



Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Adorable, Emily's Counseling Room, F/F, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24427867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoggleLad/pseuds/GoggleLad
Summary: Masara has always been bad at figuring out feelings.  Even her own.  ESPECIALLY her own.  She feels that she owes something to Kokoro, but she doesn't know what to do with that feeling.  Maybe she'll be able to figure it out with a bit of help from other magical girls.Kokoro desperately tries to survive the results of Masara's choice.
Relationships: Awane Kokoro/Kagami Masara
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	Gratitude

Today, as with every day, Masara found class to be inescapably dull. It wasn’t that it was difficult. Masara dutifully did all the work that was expected of her, committing to the necessary studies and completing all of her assignments. But it didn’t interest her. Not that much did interest her. She’d tried sports, hobbies, all of the things that normal people found engaging, but none of it had been able to captivate her. Even risking her life as a magical girl, which had seemed promising at first, had eventually grown as hum-drum as the rest of her life. There was really only one thing that could truly capture Masara’s interest these days.

Her name was Kokoro Awane, and she was already barging into Masara’s classroom before she could even leave her seat for lunch.

“Want to have lunch together?” the girl in question asked, panting slightly after what must have been a dash from her own classroom.

This had been happening quite often lately. For reasons that Masara found unfathomable, Kokoro had made a habit out of insisting to eat with the coldest and most boring girl in the school. It wasn’t that Masara disliked it, indeed, she treasured her time with Kokoro even though it exhausted her. It just bothered her that it seemed that she was one-sidedly reaping the benefits, with nothing to offer Kokoro.

“I don’t mind. We’ll have to go to the student store first, though. I didn’t bring a lunch today.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Kokoro said quickly. “I actually brought a lunchbox for you too. Ah, if that’s okay. You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.”

“I’ll eat it,” Masara replied without hesitation. “Your cooking is better than I could find here.” It wasn’t a compliment, just a simple statement of fact, but Kokoro smiled in return, which made some indefinable part of Masara squirm within her chest. It felt even more like she was taking advantage of Kokoro, but she wasn’t sure what else she could do short of pushing the other girl away, and she’d already decided to never do that again.

“Great! So, to the usual spot then?”

The usual spot for the two of them was the rooftop, as it happened. As magical girls the two of them spent a lot of time on rooftops, chasing after fleeing familiars or shortcutting across the city to pursue a witch’s signal, so there was something familiar and almost comforting about being on a rooftop. Kokoro pulled out a pair of bento boxes and passed one to Masara, who paused for a moment before opening it up and digging in.

She thought she was prepared, but the first bite caught her by surprise. It was, in a word, delicious. Kokoro’s cooking was always good, certainly better than the bland meals that Masara herself was capable of, but today lunch was even better than usual. It was obvious that Kokoro had been practicing, and had improved. “It’s delicious,” Masara reported after her first swallow.

“It isn’t anything that special,” Kokoro said humbly, looking away.

“No, this really is objectively excellent food,” Masara insisted. She couldn’t explain why, but at that moment it seemed vitally important that Kokoro properly understood this. “Even if I ate this food every day, I doubt I would grow tired of it.”

Kokoro looked away. “Oh, really?” She sounded… nervous? Unsteady? Masara wasn’t great at picking out emotions, either in herself or in others, but there was something there. And upon closer inspection, Kokoro’s face appeared to be unusually red.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, why are you– _Masara what are you doing?!_ ”

What was she doing? She had one hand on the side of Kokoro’s head to keep it in place while she pressed her forehead against Kokoro’s own. She’d thought it was fairly self-explanatory, but apparently not. “I’m checking your temperature.”

“You couldn’t do that some other way?” Kokoro asked, still sounding half-strangled.

“This is a very effective method,” Masara explained. “The forehead is particularly sensitive to changes in temperature, this is one of the best ways to quickly compare relative temperatures.” She held her head to Kokoro’s for another moment, then pulled away. “You’re a bit warm, but not feverish. Nothing to be concerned about.”

Kokoro met Masara’s eye, then turned her flushed face away again. “Um. Good. Thanks for checking.”

Thanks? It seemed so strange for Masara to be the one being thanked. Kokoro was the one that was always helping Masara with so much, while Masara just took advantage of Kokoro’s kindness. There was a feeling welling up in Masara’s chest, something that she wanted to express to Kokoro, but… she couldn’t figure out how to put it into words. She didn’t even really understand what that feeling was.

All that Masara really knew was that Kokoro deserved more.

* * *

It was still on her mind later that day, after Masara had finished her swim practice. Kokoro deserved more than what she was getting out of spending time with Masara. Was there something that she could do…?

“Oh, hey, Masara!”

It was unusual for someone (other than Kokoro) to call out to her, and it took her a moment to realize that she was being addressed. There weren’t that many people that she could claim to be on familiar terms with…

“...Oh, it’s you.” She recognized the sporty white-haired girl approaching her. She’d been one of the magical girls involved during the incident with the magical girl killer. “Akira Shinobu.”

“Yep!” The other girl grinned. “Glad to see you’re doing alright! Oh yeah, what about that other girl? Kokoro, right? She’s not with you today.”

Masara frowned. “We aren’t _always_ together.” Most of the time, perhaps, but not always. They just happened to spend a lot of time together, because they attended the same school and fought Witches together. And because Kokoro liked to be around Masara for enigmatic reasons. And because Masara wanted to keep Kokoro safe. Those reasons were perfectly logical, she didn’t need to justify herself.

A thought suddenly occurred to Masara.

“Akira, you’re associated with Nanaka Tokiwa, correct?”

“Hm? Yeah, we’re on the same team. Well, she leads it, really. Why?”

Masara had only met Nanaka that one time, but she’d demonstrated  a strong capability for forming actionable plans. “There’s a problem that I could use her help with.”

Akira immediately tensed up. “A problem? You mean,  _that_ kind of problem? Is it another incident like with Suzune?”

“No, nothing like that,” Masara quickly assured her. “It’s more of a… personal problem.”

Akira quickly relaxed again, though she remained attentive. “Oh? A personal problem?”

“Yes. It isn’t a magical problem. It’s more of a...” Masara paused, looking for the right way to describe it. A problem regarding Kokoro… rather, a problem regarding the relationship between the two of them… “...relationship problem.”

“Oh!” Akira’s eyes widened. Was it really that much of a surprise? “Uh, I don’t know if Nanaka’s the right person to talk to, then. She’s great with plans, but when it comes to people, well, uh...”

Masara frowned. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, uh… Oh, but maybe Emily’s counseling center can help you out! She gives really good advice, so I’m sure she can help you!”

“A counseling center...”

“Yeah! This magical girl that I know runs it, well, and I help out with it, along with a few others, and it’s sort of ended up being a magical girl hangout spot. Anyway, it’s almost the time that she usually closes up, but I should be able to get you in no problem.”

Masara was admittedly a bit uncertain about how useful this little advice booth would actually be, but… it there was even a chance that this might help her figure out how to pay back Kokoro, then it was worth spending a bit of time checking this out. “Okay. Let’s go.”

The booth wasn’t much, but Masara supposed that that was an efficient choice, since the service being rendered was simple enough and didn’t require much of a setup. Masara spotted a few others girls hanging around, her eyes flicking to their left hands to confirm the presence of the rings that marked them as magical girls, but she didn’t recognize any of them. Had she run across any of them before? Hard to say. She didn’t usually pay enough attention to people to commit them to memory.

“Omigosh, Akira-chi! Who is that you brought, she’s so pretty! She’s gotta be a model, right? I mean, Princess Ria is still like totes the cutest in the world, but like, this one is still a total looker, y’know? Where did you find her, what’s her name?”

Masara blinked under the sudden onslaught of words from the girl behind the table, but Akira seemed unfazed by it. “Hey, slow down Emiri, one question at a time. She’s looking for some advice, so I brought her here. Masara, this is Emiri. Oh, but we sometimes call her Emily when she’s running the shop.”

“Nice to meet you,” Masara greeted with a polite bow. “I am Masara Kagami. You’re the counselor, then?”

The excitable girl looked thoughtful. “Hm, let’s see… I’ve got it!”

Masara was impressed. Already? She hadn’t even told the girl her problem yet.

“Masa-Masa!” Emiri exclaimed excitedly. “That’s your nickname!”

...Ah. This person… she was the excitable sort that Masara was bad at dealing with.

“So, what can I help you with Masa-Masa?”

“Yes. There is… someone that I… want to do something for. But I don’t know what. I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”

“Oh hoh! You’ve gotta spill the dets, Masa-Masa! Who is this person? Your lover?”

Lover? No, there was no way that she and Kokoro could be considered lovers, there were too many criteria they didn't meet. So, what were they? Friends? That was probably presumptuous of Masara. Witch hunting partners? Not entirely inaccurate, but that aspect wasn’t what Masara wanted to thank Kokoro for. So then… “A classmate from my school,” Masara answered. “She spends a great deal of time with me. I don’t know why. I’m not a very interesting person to be around. She deserves more than I can give her. I just...”

“I getcha!” Emiri leaned forward toward Masara, eyes sparkling. “You want to show her your gratitude, right? Like, let her know that you totally care and stuff! Make her feel all good and appreciated!”

That… really was exactly right, wasn’t it? She’d been having a hard time putting into words, but Emiri had figured it out right away. Masara wanted Kokoro to feel appreciated, to make her feel like the time she’d spent with Masara was worth it. To make her want to _keep_ spending time with Masara.

“Yes. That’s right. I think.”

“I am like all over this! You just gotta get her a super sweet gift, something that’ll make her totally think of you every time she sees it.”

A gift that Kokoro would appreciate. Well, she really enjoyed hiking, so maybe Masara could get her some hiking gear. Masara still didn’t know the equipment all that well herself, but surely she could find something that–

“Something that she def wouldn’t normally buy for herself!” Emiri added enthusiastically.

...Oh. “I’m not sure what would be a good gift,” Masara admitted. “I don’t usually care about that sort of thing. What are the kinds of gifts that people normally like to receive?”

“When buying a present for a girl it’s, like, always a safe pick to go with some fab jewelry! Like, you could get her some cute earrings!”

Masara frowned. “I don’t think her ears are pierced,” she said, mentally picturing Kokoro’s ears. “I don’t want to give her a gift that causes her pain.”

“Oooh, yeah, I hear you! That’s totes okay, there’s other options. Like, you could get her a locket! You could even put a picture of yourself in it, and it’ll be like you’re always with her!”

“A locket...” She pictured it. “Then… I would be a chain around her neck, a weight dragging her down...”

“Uh...” Emiri frowned and rubbed her fingers against her head, thinking. “Okay, totally getting some negative vibes there, I get it. So then, how about a ring? There’s def nothing wrong with wrong with rings, right? Besides, like, every magical girl wears a ring anyway, right?”

Masara pondered it. “A ring… Yes, that should work. Yes. A ring will be just fine.”

“Phew! I mean, whoo! Crisis totally solved, like wow!” Emiri cheered. “Go out and get her a ring she’ll for sure remember!”

“I will,” Masara said, her lips curling upwards slightly. In fact, she had just the thing in mind…

* * *

Kokoro Awane might not be the most experienced magical girl, and she certainly wasn’t as skilled as a certain silver-haired beauty, but she knew what her strengths were. She was the magical girl of endurance, and if there was one thing that she could do it was take a hit. She was good at taking hits, whether it was from Witches or from life, and there wasn’t much that she couldn’t handle.

And she was absolutely going to die here. Kokoro Awane was going to die, and it was all the fault of one Masara Kagami, the breath-taking girl that Kokoro had an enormous, hopeless crush on. Without even transforming, the so-called Invisible Assassin had felled her with a single move. It was horribly unfair. Acute heart failure was the only reasonable response here.

“What is _that?_ ” Kokoro finally managed to squeak out a couple octaves higher than normal, her trembling finger pointing at the item that Masara was holding out to her.

Masara, bless her oblivious heart, didn’t even blink. “It’s a ring.”

A ring, she says. Like it wasn’t even a big deal, completely missing the point in that Masara-like way that could be simultaneously frustrating and endearing. “And… _on_ the ring, that is…?”

“A diamond,” Masara answered calmly.

Oh, good, so Kokoro hadn’t been mistaken. A diamond. It was a _diamond_ ring. Yep, this was it, Kokoro was dying. The girl of her dreams, just nonchalantly handing over a diamond ring like it was a piece of chocolate. And she knew, she _knew_ that Masara didn’t even mean it like _that_ , but what was Kokoro supposed to think?! What did she even say to that?! It wasn’t exactly something you just picked up at the convenience store, just how much money had Masara spent on this?!

No, wait, slow down, calm down. Come to think of it, Masara had told her before that she’d used her wish for money. It wasn’t something that Kokoro usually thought much about, Masara rarely showed any interest in material possessions so she didn’t actually spend much, but it was now occurring to Kokoro that she had never heard from Masara just how _much_ money she had. Maybe this genuinely wasn’t a big deal to the other girl? Did she just have no sense of monetary scale?

Well, she could always just ask. Then Masara would just nonchalantly shoot her down with a coldly rational explanation, like always. “So, um, Masara… why a diamond ring?”

“It made me think of you,” Masara said with a neutral expression. “Diamonds can be fragile, but are also the hardest naturally-occurring substance in the world, and they can be rough, but when polished properly are universally considered to be one of the most beautiful materi–Kokoro, are you okay?”

It soothed Kokoro that Masara was worried about her, but _no_ , she was _not okay_. She had fallen to one knee from the battle damage she’d just taken. It just made it worse that Masara didn’t even seem to realize that she was giving glowing compliments to Kokoro, she was just stating what she thought was an objective truth. “I’m fine,” Kokoro lied, mustering up the strength to stand tall again. What was she supposed to say in this sort of situation? What would Masara say if this was turned around? “I, um, don’t have a gift to repay you with, I’m sorry. Even if you give this to me, you won’t get anything out of it.”

Masara shook her head. “That’s fine. You don’t owe me anything. Rather, this it to make up for what I owe you. This is...” She looked troubled, struggling to find the words. She always did have difficulty expressing herself when it came to her own feelings, and Kokoro was more than content to give her the time to find what she wanted to say.

Kokoro needed the time to recover and rally her defenses for the next blow, after all.

“This is my gratitude,” Masara managed at last. “Think of it as… a symbol of my thoughts of you.”

…

“...Kokoro?”

Nope. Nope nope nope. Kokoro wasn’t here right now. Kokoro.exe has stopped running, Kokoro was dead now. All systems down, the central processing unit was overheating, actual thinking was disabled from now until forever, from now on she would just–

Masara leaned in to do her forehead-thermometer thing again and Kokoro forced herself into action and grabbed Masara’s hands to keep her from acting, because she just straight-up was _not_ taking any more stimulation from this clueless, beautiful, smooth-talking girl. She pried the diamond ring out of Masara’s hands and shoved it onto the middle finger of her right hand, mirroring her soul gem ring. And then she pointedly looked _anywhere but at the ring_ , anywhere at all, like into Masara’s diamond eyes _wait no not helping!_

“Th-thank you,” she managed to say, marshaling up her words. “This is… amazing. Truly.”

Masara gently smiled, and the whole world seemed to melt. “I’m glad.”

That settled it. Kokoro was ruined for life. She might as well just move that ring over to her fourth finger right now, because her heart already belonged entirely to this girl before her.

**Author's Note:**

> MasaKoko is the best, I will fight and die on that hill, these dorks deserve more stories. This story didn't go entirely according to plan, I struggled with the first half, but the ending was practically writing itself. Unintentionally-charming-Masara is the best Masara.


End file.
